troll : Java Glossary

A post on an Internet Newsgroup containing a deliberately false statement trashing
some sacred cow cherished by members of the majority of members of the Newsgroup. A
brat makes such a post simply to get a rise out of people. A paid propagandist may
make it to spread FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) about the product trashed. The Usenet group
alt.folklore.urban gives two definitions:

To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or
flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase trolling
for newbies which in turn comes from mainstream trolling, a style of fishing in which one trails bait through a
likely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a post that induces
lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they
already do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy and experienced that it is in
fact a deliberate troll. If you don’t fall for the joke, you get to be in on
it.

An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious
arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email
for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are
recognizable by the fact that the have no real interest in learning about the topic
at hand — they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly creatures they
are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics and as such, they are
recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, Oh,
ignore him, he’s just a troll.